Suspect Is Accused In Threat To President

Fort Lauderdale — A man with a history of mental problems is behind bars after he called the Secret Service to confide his desire to kill President George W. Bush, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Daniel Joseph O'Brien, who reportedly told investigators he moved from New York to Florida last May, was arrested while he spoke at a pay telephone at Broward Boulevard and Northwest Seventh Avenue, Secret Service agent Terry Tate said in an arrest affidavit.

O'Brien had phoned the Secret Service's Miami Field Office, expressing his "negative feelings" toward Bush, former President Bill Clinton and the U.S. Government in general, Tate said.

Tate kept O'Brien on the line while other Secret Service agents moved into action.

O'Brien described his desire to kill the president, blamed Bush for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and said he didn't care if he was killed in an assassination attempt, Tate said. O'Brien, who had an extensive arrest record, said he had undergone mental-health treatment in New York and Fort Lauderdale, according to Tate's affidavit.